NCAAW: Is Sarah Strong already the best player in college basketball?

Who will be the best player in women’s college basketball in the 2025-26 NCAA season?

The season-long absence of last year’s Naismith Trophy winner and AP Player of the Year JuJu Watkins, in combination with the departure of Wade Trophy winner Paige Bueckers, leaves the field wide open.

However, fans from Storrs to Westwood to South Bend to Columbia might dispute that assessment, insisting that their team’s star should be favored to fill her trophy case at season’s end. Before all the NCAA action tips off, here are the five players—all of whom were voted preseason All-Americans by The Associated Press—most likely to establish themselves as the best player in the sport.

No, she’s not the People’s Princess, but Sarah Strong is the defending national champion and No. 1-ranked Huskies’ best player, and possibly the best in the nation as well.

The precocious play of Strong during her debut season evoked not-absurd comparisons to Huskies of lore. An All-American, she averaged 16.4 points and 8.9 rebounds per game and, arguably, had a case to claim Most Outstanding Player honors as UConn captured the program’s 12th national championship. In all of the Elite Eight, Final Four and national championship games, Strong tallied at least 22 points on better than 60 percent shooting from the field, while grabbing 40 rebounds across the three games against the titanic trio of USC, UCLA and South Carolina.

The expectations are high for the 6-foot-2 sophomore forward, but nothing shown thus far by the stoic Strong has indicated that she will not meet—and even exceed—them. It won’t be surprising if Strong steps up to fill a significant portion of the playmaking void left by Bueckers, with the 3.6 assists she averaged last season increasing as she shows off her instinctual basketball IQ when more often empowered as an offensive initiator.

It also won’t be shocking if her exponential ascent includes taking the Huskies back to the mountain top for national title No. 13.

Lauren Betts has the most traditional National Player of the Year profile. She’s a senior. She’s on one of the best teams in the country, as UCLA enters 2025-26 ranked No. 3. And she’s going to put up numbers.

It’s expected that the 6-foot-7 senior center will match the production of her junior season, when the National and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year averaged 20.2 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game. That’s certainly enough to put her in the middle of debates about the nation’s top player.

However, don’t discount further improvement, as Betts, who began her collegiate career sitting on the bench at Stanford, has grown her game since relocating to Southern California. Although she may have approached her peak as scorer, rebounder and shot blocker, Betts averaged 2.7 assists per game last season after averaging just one helper a contest as a sophomore. Almost guaranteed to attract double teams, Betts could become even more proficient as a passing hub, especially if she develops a connection with Bruin newcomer Gianna Kneepkens, who can knock down open triples. That development would make her well-rounded, two-way impact even more undeniable.

Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame)

When it comes to pure production, no player may be able to top Hannah Hidalgo, who could be even more fully unleashed for a Notre Dame team that saw fellow stars Sonia Citron and Olivia Miles depart for the WNBA and TCU, respectively. Already, South Bend often became that Hidalgo Show, and this season, expect the Irish to be binging on everything the irrepressible 5-foot-6 junior point guard has to offer—and more.

Already a two-time All-American and ACC Defensive Player of the Year who also was last season’s ACC Player of the Year, Hidalgo is a basketball maximalist. While many players’ effectiveness decreases when they try to do too much, the opposite has more frequently been true for Hidalgo, who has lapped the nation in steals during her first two college seasons while also threatening to lead the nation in scoring. Despite her high-volume stylings and shot difficulty, she still has scored rather efficiently as she has averaged more than 23 points per game during her time in a Notre Dame uniform. She further defies expected basketball logic, grabbing 5.6 rebounds per game in her career despite her small size. Although ball-dominant, Hidalgo also still makes plays for others, with her assists likely to bounce back to the 5.5 she averaged as a freshman without Miles as her backcourt mate.

To be crowned the nation’s top player, however, Hidalgo likely will have to carry the Irish beyond their preseason projections. In contrast to the top-five status of the squads of other candidates, Notre Dame enters the season at No. 15, expected to take a step back after an exodus of talent. But if Hidalgo has the Irish in the top 10, if not higher, it might be hard to deny her the “Best Player in the Nation” designation, and all the honors that will come with it.

Ta’Niya Latson (South Carolina)

Ta’Niya Latson, arriving in Columbia after spending the first three seasons of her college career in Tallahassee at Florida State, could introduce a never-before-seen dynamic to a Dawn Staley team that results in last season’s scoring queen sweeping the nation’s top individual honors.

Two-way low-post dominance has been the bedrock of Staley’s most successful teams, epitomized by the national championship squads captained by the award-winning A’ja Wilson and Aliyah Boston. This year’s South Carolina team, which starts the season ranked No. 2, seems sure to have a different identity, in large part due to Latson, who, with just one season in Garnet and Black, could claim to be one of the best guards to ever suit up for South Carolina.

We know the 5-foot-8 senior guard is going to get buckets, but it will be exciting to see her sharpen and show off other facets of her game.

Last season, Latson led the nation with 25.2 points per game, with that prolific scoring production boosted by her ability to earn almost eight free throws per game. Yet, she also increased her assists, rebounds and steals per game, an all-round impact encapsulated not only by the first double-double of her career, but also her first triple-double. In addition to the 24-point, 10-rebound and 10-assist triple-double she dropped in late November, she had three more points-assists double-doubles and another points-rebounds double-double.

For a player that has accomplished as much as Madison Booker, she still remains somewhat of a theoretical star.

The 6-foot-1 forward has two All-American and a pair of conference Player of the Year honors across her first two college seasons, along with a bevy of other awards. However, touted as top-tier midrange scorer, Booker’s bucket-getting efficiency hasn’t consistently matched her reputation, as she’s floated around 46 percent from the field during her time in Austin. Booker also infamously experienced severe shooting struggles in three of Texas’ four games against South Carolina last season, in addition to off games against other top teams in LSU and Notre Dame.

But if Booker can deliver in the biggest moments for No. 4 Texas, she could actualize all her imagined potential, becoming the nation’s best player and on the nation’s best team. An uptick in efforts from behind the arc could equip Booker with that extra scoring edge, as her 3-point percentage increased by almost 10 percentage points, up to 40 percent, from her freshman to sophomore seasons. Yet, she attempted exactly 62 triples in both seasons, as Texas’ offense has remained almost allergic to weaponizing the 3-ball.

Having Booker again serve as the primary offensive initiator could further allow the full breadth of her game to flourish. Forced to serve as the Longhorns’ point forward as a freshman due a season-ending injury to point guard Rori Harmon, Booker thrived under the extra burden. Harmon is back for a fifth season, and surely will be at the controls of the Texas offense the majority of the time; nevertheless, diverting some more playmaking responsibilities to Booker could allow us to see the best version of her and the Longhorns.